It was essentially a foregone conclusion that Adam Scott would achieve a unique money milestone this week at the Sentry Tournament of Champions. So long as he finished all four rounds at the Plantation course at Kapalua Resort, the 42-year-old Queenslander would guarantee earning a minimum of $US200,000, which would bump his career earnings into rare territory.
Having made it through the first three days injury-free, shooting rounds of 70-68-72 to sit at nine-under in a tie for 29th place (15 shots behind leader Collin Morikawa), Scott has 18 more holes to go to become just the seventh player in PGA Tour history to exceed $US60 million in money earned on the course.
Scott came to Kapalua with $US59,873,599 in career earnings in 369 starts. Here are the six other players who the 14-time tour winner will be joining in the $60 million club at day’s end:
Tiger Woods, $120,895,206 (371 starts, 82 wins)
Phil Mickelson, $94,955,060 (658 starts, 45 wins)
Dustin Johnson, $74,897,059 (307 starts, 24 wins)
Jim Furyk, $71,507,269 (635 starts, 17 wins)
Vijay Singh, $71,236,216 (636 starts, 34 wins)
Rory McIlroy, $68,064,549 (221 starts, 23 wins)
When you include Scott in this group, interestingly, he actually has earned the most money on tour per win with $4,276,685.64 (not counting this week at the Sentry TOC), aided by the fact he has the fewest wins among the players to earn $60 million or more on tour. Scott, however, ranks fourth in money won per start at roughly $162,259 for each of his 369 events. Tiger, not surprising, has won the most per start ($325,863), followed by McIlroy ($307,984) and Johnson ($243,964).
With the prizemoney payouts exploding on the PGA Tour in 2023 thanks to substantial purse increases in 13 “elevated” or “designated” events (up to $US20 million being paid out in each), there will be plenty of golfers hitting career money milestones in the coming year. But who are the players next closest to hitting $60 million? Here are the next names on the career moneylist.
Justin Rose, $57,432,647
Matt Kuchar, $55,183,496
Sergio Garcia, $54,433,395
Jordan Spieth, $52,791,175
Justin Thomas, $50,953,830
Jason Day, $50,791,670
Rose and Kuchar would have to get their games in gear, but a hot stretch for either of the two would make it achievable. Given that Garcia has resigned his PGA Tour membership after joining LIV Golf, he’s eliminated himself from the $60 million club. Standout seasons, however, could have Spieth and Thomas following Scott in the not-too-distant future.
